


How to Fix Team 7: And the other Rookie 9 in the Process

by SuperMidgie



Series: Fixing It [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Dai-nana-han | Team 7 (Naruto), Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Fix-It of Sorts, Friendship, Gen, Haruno Sakura & Uzumaki Naruto & Uchiha Sasuke - Freeform, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-25
Packaged: 2021-03-26 16:28:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30108807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuperMidgie/pseuds/SuperMidgie
Summary: What if Sasuke and Naruto had legal guardians to raise them? Rather than living in an orphanage until they were genin. What if Jiraiya and Tsunade raised Naruto and Kakashi raised Sasuke? And what if Sakura didn't find her reason to become a Kunoichi but remembered it instead? AND WHAT IF EVERYONE GOT SOME DAMNED THERAPY FOR A CHANGE? Surely things would be a lot better off.
Series: Fixing It [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2215569
Kudos: 7





	1. Prologue

Chapter 1: Prologue

Kyuubi Attack

Namikaze Minato was overjoyed with his life. In the year 64 of record, he was named Hokage of Konohagakure, the Hidden Village of the country of Fire. It was the gem of the Fire Country and arguably the most prosperous Hidden Village ever founded. He was also able to marry the love of his life and the both of them were happy and at peace. That changed, however, on the night of October 10th year 65. That night the Village would see one of its bloodiest battles to have ever been recorded. 

Kushina was heavily pregnant with their son, Naruto, and due to give birth any day. Since she was the Jinchuuriki to the Kyuubi, giving birth put the seal containing the Kyuubi at risk. So Minato set up a safe house for Kushina to deliver their son when the time came. Hiruzen organized the security detail leaving Minato free to keep an eye on Kushina's seal. Things did not go according to plan. Uchiha Obito, overhearing his ex-teammate Kakashi speaking with a departed Rin, found the young family just after Naruto's birth. He took Naruto hostage and threatened to kill the baby if Minato tried to restore the Kyuubi's seal.

Minato was able to get Naruto back but had to use the Hiraishin to get to safety as Obito had planted explosive tags on the back of Naruto's swaddling. This left Kushina alone with Obito. He moved Kushina to a new location and placed her under restraints while he worked on weakening the seal further. He then used his Sharingan to enter her subconscious and place the Kyuubi under his control just as the seal broke. Kushina only survived due to the fact that she was an Uzumaki. Obito tried to force the Kyuubi to kill Kushina but Minato was able to track them down and escape to another safe house with his wife and son.

Obito didn't see any reason to go after them and instead led Kyuubi into the village to go on a rampage. Kushina was left in the safe house with Naruto since Minato, as Hokage, was needed to defend the village. Minato and Obito fall into a battle of wit and speed, both using their respective teleportation techniques to accomplish great feats of prowess and skill. Minato managed to place a Contract Seal on Obito's back and nullified his control over the Kyuubi. Obito then fled as his greatest weapon was no longer in his control and on the loose.

The Kyuubi tried to flee the village once freed but Hiruzen and his forces, not knowing what occurred, chased him causing him to retaliate. Minato arrives and summons Gamabunta to restrain Kyuubi while Minato teleports all 3 of them to the safe house. Once they arrive Kushina restrains Kyuubi using her Sealing Chains so she and Minato could discuss their next steps. Ultimately they decided to seal the Kyuubi into Naruto as Kushina was dying from her previous ordeals. Minato used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal on the Kyuubi and sealed the Yang Chakra of the Kyuubi into Naruto and the Yin half into himself. The Kyuubi tried to kill Naruto but Minato and Kushina were able to stop him by using their bodies as shields for their infant son.   
Tsunade, the closest relative the baby had, and Jiraiya, his godfather, became joint guardians of baby Naruto and vowed to raise him together.

Uchiha Massacre

A young Uchiha Itachi was placed in ANBU at the age of 11. He is the youngest ANBU to have existed and the youngest graduate from the Academy at the age of 7. He was placed there by his family to act as a spy. The Uchiha Clan, tired of the Senju-influenced government and being forced to live in a certain section of the city, was planning a Coup d'etat. The leadership of Konohagakure suspected Uchiha's involvement in the release of the Kyuubi and the subsequent attack the year prior.

Itachi was not in agreement with his father's and the Clan's plans to wipe out Konoha. As such he became a double agent and began informing on his Clan. Hiruzen, who hadn't agreed with the treatment of the Uchiha Clan, tried to find a peaceful solution. However, his counterpart, Danzo, did not believe anything would come of the negotiations and felt killing the Clan outright was the best solution. Uchiha Shisui was assigned by the clan to keep an eye on Itachi, whom they felt was behaving oddly. Shisui was also against the Coup d'etat and actively informs Hiruzen of this fact.

In year 71, when peace talks started to break down, Shisui attempted to use his Kotoamatsukami technique to force the Uchiha leaders to change their minds. Danzo felt this was a waste of the Kotoamatsukami and took Shisui's right eye for himself before Shisui had a chance to use it. Having failed his assignment and fearing that Danzo would take his other eye too, Shisui entrusted his left eye to Itachi before committing suicide.

This allowed Itachi to unlock his Mangekyo Sharingan and convinced him that a peaceful solution would never come. Especially when his clan decided that Shisui's suicide was staged and that Itachi had actually murdered his best friend. He became outwardly critical and hostile toward his fellow clan members. Danzo, knowing of Itachi's conflicted feelings, took advantage and gave Itachi a choice. One would be to allow the Clan their Coup and the entire clan would be exterminated, including Sasuke. Two would be to assassinate the Clan before the Coup thus allowing Sasuke his life.

On January 1st of year 72, a massacre occurred. The Uchiha Clan was annihilated. Itachi, whose hand was forced by his clan and Danzo, and Obito disguised as Madara, killed everyone in the compound. However, Obito is the one to use the Infinite Tsukiyomi on Sasuke and blackmails Itachi into keeping his involvement secret. After the massacre, Itachi is exiled from the village and assigned the S-rank mission of infiltrating the Akatsuki to be a double agent and informant. Itachi did know what Obito had done to Sasuke and let it happen as he felt that he deserved punishment and it was only right that Sasuke would be the one to mete it out later on when he was old enough.

Sasuke, a deeply traumatized 7-year-old, is assigned Kakashi as his legal guardian.

Sakura's Inspiration

Some time between the Uchiha Massacre and the Kyuubi Attack a very young Sakura is introduced to Mitarashi Anko, and Kunoichi of the Village. The two ended up becoming fast friends despite the oddity of it. Sakura admired Anko and looked up to the woman as an older sister of sorts. This results in Sakura stating that she wanted to join the Ninja Academy and become a Kunoichi too. Her neighbor was delighted when she heard this and decided to give the youngster a head start. She taught the child some small and simple chakra techniques. A month later Anko was reassigned and had to move. The Kunoichi made Sakura promise to never forget her reason for becoming a ninja, to which there was steadfast agreement. 

When the time came Sakura attended the Academy as promised and met her best and closest friend there, Yamanaka Ino. As the two grew older and became more interested in boys their friendship turned into a rivalry. Both of them were infatuated with one Uchiha Sasuke, who at that point had seen the death of the vast majority of his clan save himself, Itachi, and one other unknown Uchiha. He was aloof, closed-off, and cool. Or that's what the girls seemed to think of him. And he being an Uchiha and handsome didn't hurt in Sakura's eyes either. 

Eventually, it came to a point that she did, in fact, forget her promise to Anko. She forgot her reason for becoming a ninja. Her reason to be the best Kunoichi she could possibly be. And it would be some time before she remembered that reason again.


	2. Introducing the Rookie 9!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What if Sasuke and Naruto had legal guardians to raise them? Rather than living in an orphanage until they were genin. What if Jiraiya and Tsunade raised Naruto and Kakashi raised Sasuke? And what if Sakura didn't find her reason to become a Kunoichi but remembered it instead? AND WHAT IF EVERYONE GOT SOME DAMNED THERAPY FOR A CHANGE? Surely things would be a lot better off.

Chapter 2: Introducing the Rookie 9!

A widely grinning blond boy ran from his Academy sensei, Umino Iruka, cackling all the while. He just pulled off one of his greatest pranks yet. Looking over his shoulder he could see the graffiti he'd painted on the Hokage Monument. The 12-year-old only ran faster at the call of his name "Naruto!" from the sensei behind him. Naruto would definitely get away from Iruka-sensei today! Believe it! As he dashed through the streets Naruto ignored the glares of the villagers. Most of the village didn't like him, and even though Naruto enjoyed any attention he could get, he dutifully made sure they'd never know just how their disapproval and hatred affected him.

He was an orphan with no friends and dealt with the abuse of the Village's populace almost daily. What he had to go through was only bearable since Naruto had Tsunade-baa-chan and Ero-sennin, his great-great-aunt and his godfather, to care for him. Hokage-Jiji did too but he was often very busy. Being Hokage would do that and Naruto knew it was a lot of work and responsibility. But the Village loved its Hokage. Surely if Naruto managed to become Hokage he'd be loved by the people that hated him now.

"Gotcha!" Suddenly Naruto was caught by the back of his shirt. And he's picked up to come nose to nose with his sensei.

"Oh uh," Naruto smiled sheepishly. "Hiya, Iruka-sensei!"

"Hiya?!" Iruka repeated and Naruto could practically see steam coming out of his sensei's ears and nose. "After what you did to the Hokage Monument all you can say is 'Hiya'?!" Iruka dropped Naruto to the ground and pointed to the monument. "You decided to skip school to do this?!" Secretly Iruka was somewhat proud of Naruto. The kid had avoided several other Chunin and jonin before the Hokage had to order them to pull Iruka from teaching to catch the little shit. If only Naruto would apply that sort of skill and determination while he was in class.

"Maa, Iruka-sensei, school is so boring!" Naruto complained, it was bordering on a whine even.

"I'll show you boring!" And the next thing Naruto knew he had a lump rising on the top of his head. The back of his shirt was grabbed again and Iruka began dragging him to the Hokage tower, Naruto complaining and demanding to be let go the entire way there. When Naruto was finally in the Hokage's office Sarutobi Hiruzen was glaring balefully at the boy. While also impressed by the skill and creativity of the prank he was extremely annoyed and his brow may or may not have been twitching as a result. 

The Hokage took a long drag from his pipe and blew the smoke out slowly before addressing Naruto. "This is the third time this week you've skipped your classes to pull pranks on the villagers." Another drag and more smoke. "So far we've had Genin taking D-rank missions to clean up your messes but that ends today. From now on you are going to go to classes like normal and after class, you will clean until the sun sets."

Naruto made an undignified squawk. "What?! You can't do that!"

"Can't I?! I'm the Hokage!" After the outburst, Hiruzen took a calming breath before continuing. "I've already spoken with Tsunade and Jiraiya regarding your punishment. Both are in agreement, Tsunade particularly." And just like that, the wind was taken out of Naruto's sails. If his guardians were on board with the punishment there would be no getting out of it. Jiraiya would likely watch him to make sure he cleaned everything thoroughly and properly. "Since classes are nearly over for the day," Hiruzen gestures to some cleaning supplies by the door to his office. Naruto hadn't even noticed those when Iruka dragged him in. "You can start cleaning up your prank today. I will be expecting you to be in class, on time, tomorrow morning. Is that understood, Naruto?"

"Yes, Hokage-Jiji," Naruto muttered mulishly. Of course, that got him another lump on the top of his head from Iruka for being disrespectful. It was going to be a long afternoon.

The following morning Naruto was, in fact, in class and on time. It appeared to Iruka that he may have another lump or two on his head. Likely from Tsunade. Iruka shook his head as Naruto dozed with his head down on his desk. The other students, barring the emotionally stunted ones, were shocked to see Naruto on time. Nara Shikamaru walked over to the drooling blond and shook his head. "Troublesome." The laziest student to have ever been through Iruka's class lifted a textbook and let it drop by Naruto's head. 

Before things could escalate Iruka made his presence known. "Settle down everyone!" It took a little bit but everyone did settle down. Naruto even separated himself from Sasuke by sitting in front of Shikamaru and Kiba. "Today is the day of the Academy Exam. If you pass this exam you'll have the opportunity to become a genin." Beside Iruka is another one of the Academy instructors, Mizuki. "Mizuki-sensei and I will be grading all of you. Each of you will need to be able to perform a successful Bushin no Jutsu to graduate." Some murmurs started up around the class. "Line up at the front, alphabetical order." 

Unsurprisingly everyone, aside from Naruto, passed the exam with flying colors. And at the end of the day parents were picking up their children and admiring the new Hitai-ate. Naruto himself was all alone and despondent. He didn't even acknowledge or seem to notice the glares that the villagers were sending his way. The solitary swing hanging from a tree outside the academy and deep into the shade is where Naruto decided that he would sit for a while. That was until Mizuki-sensei stood next to the boy. Iruka and Hiruzen watch as Mizuki-sensei and Naruto disappear together.

"You know," Mizuki started sometime later, while he and Naruto sat on a balcony overlooking part of the village. "Iruka-sensei isn't trying to be mean to you."

"Then why was I the only one that didn't pass?" Naruto responded, a pout easily heard in his tone of voice.

"He wants you to be strong, and that comes from the bottom of his heart. Neither of you have parents." 

Naruto remained silent for a moment before he responded, "But I really wanted to graduate..."

Mizuki let out a breath of laughter, "I guess I don't have a choice. I'll let you in on a big secret." And Naruto's eyes widened at Mizuki's words. Maybe he could still hope!

"Wake up, Iruka-sensei!" There was an urgent banging on Iruka's front door. When he opened it and stepped out, Mizuki was there.

"What's the matter?" Iruka hadn't ever seen Mizuki look so harried before.

"We've got to get to Lord Hokage's immediately! We've been summoned. I heard that Naruto... he stole the Scroll of Sealing!"

Iruka could only gape at Mizuki for a few seconds. This went far beyond the usual pranks that Naruto played on the village. This was the theft of a very powerful and potentially dangerous scroll of information. He quickly got dressed and the two of them met in a crowd of other Chunin and Jonin before the Hokage. As soon as the word to retrieve Naruto was given all of the shinobi leapt away and into action.

Unbeknownst to the others in the search party, it was Mizuki who had put Naruto up to the theft. And he fully planned on killing Naruto and escaping with the scroll. It took quite some time but Iruka was able to track his wayward student down. And when confronted, Naruto didn't act like he normally would when caught after a prank. That confused Iruka.

"Aw man, you already found me, Iruka-sensei. And I only had time to learn one Jutsu." Iruka blinked at that and took in Naruto's appearance. He was sweaty, filthy, and obviously tired. Had Naruto really practiced that hard to learn one of the Jutsu sealed in the scroll? Naruto, meanwhile, continued chattering away. The boy seemed entirely unaware of the trouble he was in. "Listen! I'm gonna show you this amazing Jutsu! And when I do you're gonna let me graduate if I can do it!" He sounded so confident. "Isn't it true that I can graduate if I can do one of the Jutsu written on the scroll?" 

Iruka started again and shook his head quickly. "Who-who told you that?"

"Mizuki-sensei! He told me about the scroll and this place!" The next thing Iruka knew was that kunai were flying at him and Naruto both. He only had enough time to push Naruto out of the way before a hail of deadly weapons began to pelt him. When Iruka looked up Mizuki was perched in a tree several feet away.

"Naruto, give me the scroll," Mizuki called out to the kid calmly.

"Wait, wait... What's going on here?" The poor kid was utterly confused. He still had no idea he'd been duped and used by someone he thought he could trust. 

Iruka pulled a kunai from his thigh and grit his teeth. "Naruto, don't ever give him that scroll. It is a dangerous object that holds forbidden Ninja Jutsu. It was sealed! And Mizuki used you so he could get it for himself!"

"Naruto, Iruka is only afraid of you holding that scroll." Mizuki wouldn't let his manipulation be undone so easily.

"What are you saying, Mizuki?!" Iruka, injured and still reeling from the betrayal of his comrade and someone he considered a friend, tried to appeal to Naruto in the next breath. "Naruto, don't let him fool you!"

Mizuki only laughed, "Then I'll tell you the truth!"

"Wha-Idiot! Don't do that!"

"An incident 12 years ago caused a rule to be made."

Naruto was baffled and scared beyond belief at this point. "A rule?"

"A rule everybody knows about, except you, Naruto." Mizuki was sneering at the kid as he spoke.

"Except me?! What is it?"

"Mizuki! Stop it!" Iruka, injured as he was, could do nothing except beg Mizuki not to say anything.

Mizuki did not stop, he kept going. Much to Iruka's desperation. "The rule forbids anyone from telling you that you are the Kyuubi! You are the demon fox that destroyed the village and killed Iruka's parents!"

"Stop it!" The words are essentially a screech coming from Iruka at that point. He hadn't ever wanted Naruto to learn about his role like this. Especially not like this.  
And still Mizuki continued, mercilessly and savagely cutting into the poor kid's psyche. 

"Everyone has been deceiving you ever since. Didn't you find it strange? Why does everyone hate you so much?"

"No!" Naruto covered his ears and shut his eyes tightly. "No, no, no, no, no!"

"Nobody accepts you! That's why Iruka hates you so much!" Iruka tried to move to stop Mizuki, stop the horrible truths and lies he was spouting. But he was hurt far too badly to be able to. 

Distantly he heard the Hokage's voice from the previous conversation they had.  
'Iruka... Naruto grew up without the love of his parents. He, of course, has the love of his great-great-aunt and his godfather, but it is not the same. Everyone avoids him like the plague after what happened. That's why he keeps misbehaving. He's only trying to get someone to see him. He's good at pretending to be tough, he's hurting terribly inside though.' And Iruka knew just how that felt. Because he had done the same after he'd been orphaned.

"Die, Naruto!" Mizuki throws one of the oversized shuriken at the helpless Naruto who does his best to scramble away, even if it was pointless.

"Naruto! Get down!" Iruka screamed and the poor child did just that. There was a sound of a blade hitting flesh. When Naruto turned and looked up, Iruka was standing over him. The shuriken buried in his back.

"Why?" Naruto, who had started believing the lies that Mizuki had told him regarding Iruka, didn't know what to do or how to respond.

"Because we're just alike, Naruto." Came the pained reply. "After my parents died, nobody paid attention to me or gave me any support. I wasn't a good student. I was the class clown... because I wanted people to notice me. I wasn't able to do things perfectly so I kept doing stupid shit. It was so hard..." And Iruka's voice broke with emotion. "Isn't that right, Naruto? You were lonely and you suffered deep inside, right? I'm so sorry, Naruto... If I had paid more attention maybe you wouldn't have suffered so much!"

Mizuki chose to make his presence known again by chuckling darkly. "Don't make me laugh! Iruka has always hated you, ever since you killed his parents! He's only saying all of that to get the Scroll back!" Naruto, warring inside of himself, turned away from Iruka and sprinted away from both Chunin-sensei. Mizuki landed neatly on the ground behind Iruka and laughed again. 

"He's not the kind of kid to change his mind. He's going to take revenge on the village with that scroll. Didn't you see his eyes? Those are the eyes of a demon!"

Iruka was so tired and fed up with Mizuki's non-stop talking. He reached behind himself and pulled the shuriken from his back with a grunt. "No, that's not what Naruto is like. Not at all." He threw the shuriken at Mizuki who easily dodged the weapon. Iruka could hear it crashing through the trees and branches and leaves of the forest.

"All I want to do is kill Naruto and get that Scroll. I'll be back to take care of you later." With those words, Mizuki dashed off after Naruto. 

"I-I won't let you..." 

Meanwhile, the Hokage watched the entire scene from a crystal ball and began to worry about what Naruto might do if pushed too far. Mizuki continued his chase of Naruto through the forest. However, Iruka, who knew Naruto best, caught up to the boy first. "Everything Mizuki said was a lie! He only wants the Scroll! Give it to me, quick!"

Rather than hand the scroll over, Naruto headbutted Iruka in the chest. This sent Iruka sprawling and Naruto landed on his feet in a short slide. Naruto, once he stopped, pulled the scroll from his back and sat at the base of a tree, clutching the object tightly.

"It can't be..." Iruka turned toward Naruto with a pained and angered expression. "Why is it, Naruto?" And suddenly Mizuki appeared in a cloud of smoke as his Henge no Jutsu dispelled.  
"How... did you know I wasn't Iruka...?"

Naruto chuckled and Iruka suddenly dropped his own Henge no Jutsu. "Because I'm Iruka." 

"I see." Mizuki turned toward Iruka. "What's in it for you to protect the one who killed your family?"

"I'm not going to let a stupid idiot like you get that Scroll!" 

"You're the idiot. Naruto and I are the same!"

"The same?"

"Anyone can do whatever he wants once he has that Scroll. There's no way that monster... That Demon Fox, won't take advantage of the power of that scroll!" 

"That is true..." Iruka agreed quietly and easily. And Naruto thought that it really did mean that Mizuki had been telling the truth. Iruka had never, ever cared! Not even a little bit. "...if he was the Demon Fox. But Naruto is different. I know that he is an exceptional student. He works very hard, he may be single-minded and clumsy sometimes, and nobody accepts him, but he knows the meaning of human suffering. He is not the Demon Fox. He's Uzumaki Naruto of Konohagakure!"

Mizuki and Naruto both can scarcely believe Iruka's words. "You are so gullible, Iruka." And the second shuriken found its way into Mizuki's hand. "I was going to take you down later but you changed my mind. Die!" Just as Mizuki threw the shuriken, Naruto came out of nowhere and rammed into Mizuki's side. The weapon went wide and missed Iruka entirely. As Mizuki got to his hands and knees he glared at Naruto. "You surprised me there, freak."

"If you ever lay a hand on Iruka-sensei again, I'll kill you!" The kid's response was all but growled at Mizuki and the killing intent was pouring off of Naruto. 

"Oh shut up! I can take care of a kid like you with a single shot!"

Naruto readied his hands in the seal for a Bushin no Jutsu. "Why don't you try it? I'll strike you back a thousand-fold!"

"Let's see you try! Show me what you can do, Demon Fox!"

And right before Iruka's eyes, Naruto used the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and easily created hundreds of shadow clones. They surrounded Mizuki and formed a partial wall of protection with Naruto to protect Iruka. And suddenly dozens of the clones started calling out to Mizuki, taunting him with his own words. When Mizuki didn't make a move, "In that case, I'll come to you!" And Mizuki screamed in terror as Naruto and his clones pounced. "Whoops... looks like I got a little carried away. Are you okay, Iruka-sensei?"

"Uh... yeah..." Iruka was smiling widely, even as he winced and groaned. "Naruto, come over here. I'd like to give you something."

Outside of the Hokage's Office the other Chunin and Jonin hadn't found a trace of Naruto and were growing more worried by the second. Hiruzen stepped outside calmly with his pipe. 

"There's no cause for concern anymore. He'll be back soon."

Naruto sat with his eyes closed, just like Iruka had asked. It seemed to be taking a while though. "Sensei, how much longer?"

"Ok, you can open your eyes now," Iruka responded after a moment. The first thing Naruto noticed is that Iruka's Hitai-ate was missing. "Congratulations... on your graduation." Naruto stared in disbelief. "In celebration, we'll have ramen tonight!" When Naruto didn't respond, Iruka looked down at his student. Naruto moved and hugged Iruka so fiercely he knocked them both over. And while Iruka complained about the pain, he didn't really mind at all.

A day later Naruto arrived with a photographer to have his registration picture taken. Being the prankster and class clown that he was, Naruto had decided it would be a good idea to paint his skin white and decorate using bright red swirls and lines across his face. He even painted swirls at the tips of his fingers. The photographer tried to talk him out of it with no luck. And later, when Naruto brought his registration papers to the Hokage he was almost immediately ordered to take the photo again.

Out of aggravation, Naruto used Henge no Jutsu to transform himself into a beautiful full-grown female version of himself. "Oh please, Hokage-same..." This, to a certain degree, had the desired effect on the old Hokage. It wasn't completely as Naruto wanted the effect though. 

"The Sexy no Jutsu... That's a devious technique." Hiruzen told Naruto after he'd recovered from his initial... shock. He was busy blotting his bleeding nose with a hankie. "The Ninja Registration Form is a very important document that's held in high regard by our village. Why do you want to look like this?"

Before Naruto could launch into an explanation the door to the office opened and in came a child even younger than Naruto. Shuriken in hand, he raced toward the Hokage, who was entirely unfazed, shouting that he was going to be the Fifth Hokage. And then he tripped over his own feet and landed flat on his face with a resounding smack. The little boy held his face and groaned out an, "Ouch!" 

Another person ran to the open door and looked inside. He wore round, darkened glasses and his Hitai-ate in a bandana around his head. 

"Drat! Was this a trap?!" The boy demanded glaring at nothing in particular. 

The stranger, clearly a Chunin, looked around the room. "Are you okay, Honorable Grandson? Might I inform you that there aren't any traps here..."

Then both the boy and the stranger focused on Naruto, who was beyond confused at the entire scene playing out in front of him.

"You must have done this to me!" The child accused as he approached Naruto and pointed a finger in the new Genin's face.

Naruto didn't take kindly and snatched the little runt up by his over-long scarf. "You tripped all by yourself, stupid!"

"Hey! Let go of him!" The Chunin intervened at that point, though decidedly kept his distance from the two kids. "He's the Honorable Grandson of the Third Hokage!"

Naruto looked between the kid and the Chunin and back to the kid again. The little boy's scowl shifted to a grin. "What's the matter? Weren't you gonna hit me, huh? Can't do it cuz I'm the Hokage's grandson, eh?"

"As if I care! Idiot!" And Naruto promptly lost his temper and thwapped the kid over the head. And in an over-dramatic fall of shock and feigned unconsciousness, the kid fell flat on the floor again. Which upset the Chunin even more. Sometime later, once Naruto had left, the Chunin began lecturing the little boy. 

"Listen to me. You are the Honorable Grandson of the Third Hokage. Even though that scoundrel hit you, you must not associate with his kind." The kid looked away from the Chunin. "Nothing good will come out of tangling with him. As your distinguished teacher Ebisu..." And then he went on to pontificate how great he was and how the kid should listen and learn from him. That was until he noticed that the little brat was gone.

"He seems to have gone after Naruto," Hiruzen remarked, much to the Chunin's chagrin. 

Naruto was walking home when he felt a presence behind him. Well felt was a rather loose term. He could hear the little idiot's feet. When Naruto turned to confront the kid the brat tried to camouflage himself. He sucked at it. Couldn't even manage to make himself look like a rock. Naruto continued on his way and was still tailed. "Stop following me! What is it now?!" He rounded on the kid again, who had tried to camouflage himself against the nearby wooden fence. 

"Your camouflage is pathetic."

"You've seen through my disguise, your reputation is well earned. I will allow you to make me your apprentice." Of course, Naruto didn't really like the sound of that and responded with a befuddled noise. "But first you have to teach me that Sexy Jutsu that you used to beat Hokage-Jiji!" 

"You gotta be kidding." 

"I beg you to say yes, boss!"

"Huh? Boss?"

"Boss! Boss! Boss!"

"I-I guess I have no choice," Naruto almost laughed, feeling flattered at the compliment and attention. Their training ended up being Naruto pretending that he knew what he was talking about. Hijinks ensue and the duo often finds Naruto getting hit in their quest to make it so that the little boy can perform Sexy no Jutsu. After training for a while Naruto finally learns the kid's name.

"My name is Konohamaru. He named me after our village." Konohamaru paused, glowering at the ground. "It should be easy for everyone here to remember. But nobody ever calls me by my name. When they see me all they see is the grandson of the Hokage. No one really sees me." As he spoke the boy grew more and more emotional. "I can't stand it. That's why I want the title of Hokage!"

"Idiot... Who do you think will accept you, huh?" Konohamaru started at Naruto's words, which did sound harsh considering the conversation. "You won't win the title that easily, you know. It's just not that simple. If you're really serious about gaining the title of Hokage... You'll have to beat me first." Naruto finished with a wild grin. 

It's at that moment that Ebisu finally finds the two new rivals. The Chunin regarded Naruto with the standard cold look that the Genin got from most everyone in the village. "Honorable Grandson, we have to go now."

"No way! I want to beat Hokage-Jiji right now so I can win the title of Hokage!" Konohamaru stomped his foot on the ground. "Don't get in my way!"

"A Hokage must first know about virtue, honor, etiquette, wisdom, loyalty, faith, judgement, obedience, and many other things," Ebisu stated as he approached Konohamaru and Naruto. "He must be skilled at more than a thousand techniques!"

Konohamaru had enough of the preaching and used the Sexy no Jutsu. This time he transformed into a perfect woman-version of himself. "What?! It didn't work!"

Of course, Ebisu was busy having an embolism. "What kind of Jutsu is that?! I am a gentleman! Such vulgar attacks will never work on me!" Naruto clenched his hands as Ebisu tried to forcefully drag Konohamaru away by his scarf. "Honorable Grandson! That rascal will only make you an imbecile! Stick with me and... you will gain a shortcut towards becoming the Fifth Hokage. Now, let's go!" Konohamaru was fighting with all he had and continued to refuse to listen to Ebisu.

Naruto decided to step in then. He performed a Kage Bushin no Jutsu and got their attention. 

"Ha! That's nothing." Ebisu scoffed. "I am a distinguished teacher. I am not as weak as Mizuki." The Chunin prepared himself for a fight. But Naruto had other plans in mind. He and all of his clones performed Henge no Jutsu and started the Sexy no Jutsu. With the womanly clones draping themselves over Ebisu he essentially launched himself in the air with the force of his own nose bleed.

A short while later Konohamaru began to lament that he can't even defeat his sensei Ebisu. He wanted so badly to become Hokage and be recognized as his own person.

"Do you really think it's that easy?" Naruto questioned, his eyes squinted against the sun and his head tilted slightly. "It's only given to the greatest Ninja in the village. Everyone has to believe in you. I've already been through a lot." Faces of angry and cold villagers flashed across his mind. "It's been one struggle after another. But after all that, I finally found someone who accepts me. I had to go through a lot... just for a single person. You need to push yourself."

"For what?" Konohamaru was mystified by Naruto's words. He soaked them up almost like water.

"The path of getting the title of Hokage is a brutal one. There's no such thing as a shortcut."

The words Naruto spoke earlier echoed in Konohamaru's mind. Once he realized that Naruto was right he turned his back on the blond with a scoff. "Who do you think you are, lecturing me like that? I won't be your apprentice anymore." He turned slightly so he could face Naruto. "From now on, you're my rival." And he gave a toothy grin. Naruto gave him a small smile in return.

"Unfortunately for you, I graduate from the Academy tomorrow. Still, I'll consider you an equal someday. When we fight for the title of Hokage. Let's look forward to that, Konohamaru."

Chapter 2: Sasuke the teme and Sakura-chan the fangirl

As promised, the following day Naruto woke up to prepare for his orientation day at the Academy. As he ate breakfast and dressed he could hardly contain his excitement. Along the way, he easily spotted Konohamaru attempting to hide so he could launch a sneak attack. Predictably it failed without any movement from Naruto. The Academy student demanded that Naruto fight him, however Naruto still had his orientation meeting. He was a Ninja of the village as of that morning after all.

At the same time a one Haruno Sakura was busy getting herself ready. Though for her that meant getting her hair, for which she's named, perfect and looking her best. She needed to impress Uchiha Sasuke after all. And he only liked the prettiest of girls with the longest and most beautiful hair. At least that is what Sakura and the rest of his fan club seemed to think.  
Per her usual route, Sakura ran into her rival in love, Yamanaka Ino. And Ino was playing hardball that day. "Who would've thought you'd be able to graduate."

"Ancient history has nothing to do with it," Sakura replied tersely. We’re both full-fledged Ninja as of today.” And she walked a bit faster to put some distance between herself and Ino. Not to be outdone Ino matched her pace. And the two continued like this until they were shoved against one another and racing to the Academy in a power walk. Naruto, still internally celebrating his graduation, sat next to Uchiha Sasuke. 

When the pair of rival Kunoichi burst into the classroom they began to argue about who entered first. It was Sakura who first spotted and requested to sit next to Sasuke. Poor Naruto was violently shoved out of her way. This of course caused a chain reaction of events. 

Naruto, having had a belly full of everyone fawning over Sasuke, leapt onto the desk in front of his classmate and glared at him. An unnamed classmate accidentally bumped into Naruto, who grew off-balanced, and Sasuke and Naruto ended up in what could only be described as a lip-lock. The entire situation was so hilarious it was all Iruka could do to not burst into laughter. 

Both boys immediately devolved into the usual over dramatics at having kissed someone they didn’t like. And Iruka got everyone to settle down before the female half of the class could murder Naruto. If looks could kill, damn.

“As of today, you all have become full-fledged Ninja…” Iruka stated to his former students with a smile on his face. “However, you’re still Genin. The tough part is still coming. From here on, you’ll be in squads of three and you’ll carry out your missions under your Jonin-sensei.” All of the Genin present had their own thoughts about the squads but kept quiet so Iruka could continue. They knew better than to interrupt him. “The groups have been determined so that the strength of the groups will be balanced. And now the assignments!” After several minutes of calling out teams Iruka got to Team 7. “First Uzumaki Naruto. Then Haruno Sakura. And finally Uchiha Sasuke.” Only Sakura seemed to be slightly pleased about the arrangement. Naruto, while he did have a crush on her when they were younger, was over that and was really just annoyed to be in a team with Sasuke. The Last Uchiha was annoyed at being in a team with the both of them. “Next is Team 8: Hyuga Hinata. Inuzuka Kiba. Aburame Shino. Team 10: Yamanaka Ino. Nara Shikamaru. Akimichi Choji.” With the teams sorted it was time for lunch.

During lunchtime, Sakura tried to find Sasuke to ask him to have lunch with her to no avail. She then ran into Naruto who, despite her previous treatment of him, asked her to have lunch with him, but she coldly dismissed him. Angered yet again, Naruto then transformed into Sasuke and headed out to find Sakura. When he found her, he asked her what she thought of Naruto.

“He’s at home interfering with others and likes it when I make a mistake,” Sakura responded quietly. “Naruto doesn’t understand one thing about me… he annoys me.” It was then that she tried to make a move on Naruto, disguised as Sasuke. 

“Hold on, just a moment.” He held up his hands and made his former crush pause. Naruto stood and released the Henge no Jutsu.

“Wha- Naruto?! Where’s Sasuke-Kun? What did you do with him?!” Sakura leapt to her feet and snagged him by the front of his jacket. Naruto grabbed her wrist but didn’t do anything else. Only looked at her with a blank expression.

“Nothing. He’s eating his lunch like everyone else.” He explained to her, almost as if to a child. “When you told me to get lost I wanted to know why. The real reason why. So I used Henge no Jutsu to turn into the one person I knew you’d tell.” Naruto pulled her hand from his clothes. “Thanks for reminding me why I stopped having a crush on you.” And with that, he stalked away.

Surprisingly Sasuke came along the same path soon after Naruto left. “Sasuke-Kun! Thank goodness you’re okay! Naruto didn’t hurt you did he?”

“How could that loser hurt me?” Sasuke questioned in his usual monotone. When Sakura explained the situation Sasuke shook his head and asked where Naruto went.

“Just forget about Naruto. All he does is pick fights with everybody. Mostly you.” And just like that, she started talking. And her talking started digging herself a hole. The more she talked the deeper the hole got. “It’s because he wasn’t raised right. I know! He doesn’t have any parents, right?” Somehow she completely missed the glare Sasuke sent her way at those words. “He always selfishly does whatever he wants! My parents always got mad at me for doing things like that. There are no parents to nag you if it’s just you alone! So his selfishness comes out at various times.”

“The loneliness.”

“Huh?”

“It’s something worse than getting scolded by parents and…”

“And what?

“You… annoy me.” With that Sasuke left Sakura to her thoughts.

‘This must be how Naruto felt…’ She wondered to herself, watching as Sasuke walked away and disappeared. ‘I wonder if… I can be nicer next time…’


	3. Kakashi's Bells!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: Kakashi is going to work these poor kids over. He is going to train them all equally and fairly and treat them the same.

Chapter 3: Kakashi’s Bells!

Inside a classroom at the Academy, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura waited for their jōnin sensei Kakashi to arrive. And he was late. Very, very late.

“Why’s it that our squad is the last here? Where’s our Jonin-sensei?” Naruto demanded as he peered out the classroom door and up and down the hallway. “The others have already got with their new teachers! Even Iruka-sensei has gone home!”

“Don’t look at me,” Sakura rolled her eyes at Naruto’s antics. “Hey! What’re you doing?!” She approached her blond teammate as he giggled to himself. “Hey!” 

Naruto had placed a chalk eraser between the sliding door and the door frame, so when it opened the next unlucky person would get chalk dust all over them when they came through the door. “It’ll be his fault because he’s late.” All three Genin looked at his handiwork.

“Man! You’re really asking for it!” Secretly Sakura was pleased at Naruto’s prank. It would serve their sensei right!

“Hm,” The scoff came from Sasuke, who likely had the most patience out of the three of them. Though he’d never admit to being annoyed and bored out of his mind too. “A Jonin wouldn’t get hit by a prank like that.”

“That’s right.” Of course, Sakura just had to agree with everything Sasuke said. “You’re such an idiot…”

Lo and behold their sensei chose that moment to walk through the door. And he was, indeed, hit by Naruto’s eraser. Naruto began giggling maniacally, stating that he’d gotten their sensei with his prank. As if they hadn’t seen it either.

“I’m sorry, sensei! I tried to stop him but Naruto wouldn’t listen,” In spite of her outward apology Sakura was happy the prank succeeded. And Sasuke was in utter disbelief that such a strong Shinobi fell for a child’s trap.

Their sensei, a tall Jonin with crazily spiked grey hair, picked up the eraser and hummed softly. “How can I put this? My first impression of all of you is… Well, I hate you.” The three Genin narrowed their eyes. He’d kept them waiting for so long just to hear that?

Up on the roof, the Jonin-sensei leaned back against the railing and faced his students that were sitting a few feet away. “Let’s see… First, let me have you introduce yourselves.”

“Introduce ourselves… What should we say?” Sakura, ever the curious one, asked with some confusion. To be fair he didn’t give either of the three of them much to go on.

“Your names, your likes, your dislikes, your dream, your hobbies. Things like that.”

“Hey, before we do that, tell us about yourself.” Naruto requested of the Jonin. And it was a fair request. They needed to know their sensei just as he needed to know them.

“Me? I’m Hatake Kakashi. I don’t feel like telling you guys about my likes and dislikes. I’ve never thought about my dream… As for my hobbies, I have several.”

The three Genin looked between one another with irritation plain on their faces. Sakura spoke first. “So he really just told us his name, right?” Naruto nodded in affirmation.

“Your turn, you first,” Kakashi motioned to Naruto. 

“I’m Uzumaki Naruto! I like instant ramen and Ichiraku ramen. I’m not really patient so I don’t like waiting for things. My hobby is cooking! Tsunade-baa-chan and Jiraiya-Jiji aren’t good at it but I am! And my dream is to surpass the Hokage! That way I can get the entire village to acknowledge me.” 

“Next, you,” Kakashi indicated to Sakura, this time.

“I’m Haruno Sakura,” She started cheerily enough. “What I like… I mean, who I like is…” Sakura blushed and glanced at Sasuke. “And my hobby is, I mean… My dream is…” And she simply devolved into a small squealing fit.

“And? What about your dislikes?”

“Naruto.” 

Kakashi looked between Sakura and Naruto. Clearly, she had meant for the comment to sting her teammate, to get a reaction out of him. But Naruto entirely ignored the jab aside from frowning. Lastly, Kakashi focused on Sasuke. “And you?”

“My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I have a lot of dislikes and not many things that I do like.” Sasuke paused for a moment before continuing. His voice and expression grew intense and dark. “I don’t feel like summing up my ambition as just a dream but I do have an ambition. It's to restore my clan and kill a certain man.”

Sasuke’s words only confirmed something to his teammates that Kakashi already knew. In reality, Sasuke was his legal ward. However, for the sake of Naruto and Sakura, he and Sasuke had to pretend to not know one another.

“Good! The three of you are very distinctive and interesting! There’s going to be a mission tomorrow.” The Jonin stated matter-of-factly.

“What kind of mission?” The knucklehead of the group asked with excitement. Out of the three of them, it seemed that he was the happiest to have graduated.

“First, we’re going to do what we can with only four people. A survival exercise.”

“Survival exercise?”

“Why call this a mission if we’re just going to be doing an exercise?” Sakura demanded. “We’ve had more than our share of exercises in the Academy!” She really felt that he was handling them with kid gloves. That was something she did not take well to.

“This isn’t just an exercise.” Kakashi corrected her patiently. 

“Then what kind of exercise is it?” When it came to curiosity and wanting to understand a situation, Naruto was second only to Sakura. 

Kakashi-sensei began laughing to himself. 

“Hey! What’s so funny, Sensei?” Apparently, Sakura’s peevishness wasn’t leaving any time soon.

“Uh, well, if I tell you about the exercise I know you’ll get discouraged.” He responded good-naturedly. Almost as if he would be happy to disenchant them. “Of the twenty-seven graduates, only 9 will be chosen to become Genin. The rest will be sent back to the Academy for more training. Essentially this exercise is an extremely difficult test with a high failure rate.” Sasuke, damn that kid was good at that stone-cold attitude, kept his features neutral. However, Naruto looked shocked and panicked and Sakura seemed to age by a few years. “See? I told you that you’d get discouraged.”

“That’s- That’s crazy!” Naruto shouted in outrage, his voice cracking as he did. “What was the graduation test for then?”

“Oh, that? It was to select those who have the potential of becoming Genin.”

“Whaaaaaaaaat?!”

“Well, that’s the way it is. It's up to me to determine if you pass or fail. Each of you needs to bring a complete set of Shinobi Tools. We’re going to be meeting at five in the morning.” More dramatic pause. “Okay, you’re dismissed.” Kakashi was about to dash away before he stopped and looked back at his potential students. “Oh… and you’re probably going to want to skip breakfast. You’ll throw up.” 

The following morning, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke arrived promptly at the place Kakashi told them about. Of the three of them, Sasuke seemed to be the only one who didn’t have an issue being awake at the ass-crack of dawn. Then dawn came and the sun rose above the treeline. Kakashi was late again. It was a couple of hours before noon when he finally showed his face. “Hi, kids. Good morning!” 

“You’re late!” Sakura and Naruto screeched at him. 

“Well, you see, a black cat crossed my path…” He started to make an excuse but stopped. It looked like Sakura and Naruto might actually try to kill him. “Ahem. Oh well…” He moved to a stump in the middle of the training ground and placed an alarm clock on top of it. “Okay, it’s set for 12:00! Today’s assignment is to take these bells away from me by noon. Those who can’t won’t get lunch and they’ll be tied to one of the posts there. I’ll even eat my lunch in front of you.” 

“Hold on, why are there only two bells?” Kakashi was starting to like Sakura a bit. When she wasn’t focusing on Sasuke she was rather observant.

“There are only two so at least one of you is going to get tied up. That person will be disqualified for failing the mission… and will return to the Academy. It might be one of you, or it could be all three of you. You can use any weapons you have against me. You won’t be taking these bells without the intent to kill me.”

“Sensei! That’s really dangerous!” And then sometimes Sakura could only point out the obvious.

“That’s right… you couldn’t even evade a chalkboard eraser!” Naruto agreed and Kakashi wondered if he knew why his pranks always seemed to work so well.

“In this world,” Kakashi interrupted them before either of them could continue. “Those who aren’t skilled enough tend to complain more. So, we’ll just ignore the loser…” This earned a well-deserved glare from Naruto. “Begin when I give the ‘ready-go’ signal.”

Kakashi’s dismissal and insult to Naruto was echoing in his skull and his temper had boiled over at that point. Naruto flew into action before Kakashi gave the start signal. He whipped out a kunai and went straight for Kakashi. And to the surprise of all three potential Genin, Kakashi caught Naruto’s hand easily. And forced it behind Naruto’s own head so Naruto was essentially aiming his kunai at the back of his own neck. “Don’t be so hasty. I didn’t say start, yet.” Sasuke and Sakura instinctively took a few steps backward from the two. Naruto, once released by Kakashi, held his arm and put some distance between the two of them. “But, that’s fine. At least you came with the intent to kill me. Heh heh. How can I put this? I think I’m starting to like you three. Here we go! Ready... start!”

The three students leaped away immediately to hide themselves. Kakashi made a mental note that the three of them did hide themselves fairly well. With the exception of Naruto. Well, he had said that patience wasn’t his strong suit. Kakashi, having learned to just tune out the kid’s boasting, merely pulled out the book he was reading. 

“Bu-hey! What’s with the book?” No patience, or volume control. Naruto in a nutshell.

“Why do you ask? It’s because I wanted to know what happens next. Don’t worry. With you guys as opponents, it makes no difference if I’m reading or not.” Kakashi responded flippantly. 

“I’m going to rip you apart!” Because of course, Naruto would lose his temper again. And Kakashi easily avoided all three attempted hits. He placed himself behind Naruto, in a crouch, and his hands formed the Tiger Seal.

“Naruto! Get out of there, you’ll die!” Sakura shouted from her hiding place once she saw the position of Kakashi’s hands. 

“Ninja shouldn’t let the enemy take them from behind more than once, idiot.” With those words, Kakashi was ready to attack. “One Thousand Years of Death!” The attack landed right… (on… in?) on its mark and sent Naruto rocketing through the air and into the nearby river. Kakashi went back to his reading and Sasuke and Sakura hesitated as they tried to figure out a plan separately. Two shuriken flew out of the water abruptly, surprising them both. What surprised them even more was that Kakashi caught them with two fingers. He didn’t even look up from the book either!

Naruto coughed as he pulled himself from the water. “What’s wrong. You won’t get lunch if you can’t take a bell by noon.” Kakashi reminded the blond loud-mouth.

“I know that!” Naruto snapped in reply, even as he fought to catch his breath.

“You’re not very energetic. I thought you said you wanted to surpass the Hokage.” 

Then there was a loud rumbling, growling sound. It was Naruto’s stomach. “Damn it! Damn it! I can fight even if I’m hungry!” The sound caused Sasuke and Sakura’s own stomachs to remind their owners that they were empty too. And Sakura had made the stupid decision to go on a diet the previous night. “I just got a bit careless earlier!” Moments later a swarm of clones jumped from the water. And it was a perfect diversionary tactic for Naruto to come up behind Kakashi and latch onto the Jonin. A few more clones joined in to help keep him still. And when the punch landed… It was Naruto that took the hit. Naruto and his clones began to bicker and argue and fight amongst one another. 

Naruto dispelled the ninjutsu, leaving only himself behind. And when he looked down he spotted the bell and fell for a trap that was even more obvious than his eraser prank. 

“A Ninja must see through deception!” Kakashi called up to the kid. Naruto was busy hanging by his ankles in a tree so Kakashi had a captive audience.  
“I know that!” Was screeched back at Kakashi. Naruto really had a short fuse when he was hungry.

“You realize that I’m telling you this because you aren’t getting it, right?” Listen up! You’re wasting your time moving around like that.”

It was then that Sasuke saw his opportunity. He let several shuriken and kunai fly while Kakashi was lecturing Naruto. At first, it looked like he’d managed to hit his target, however, it turned out to be a substitution like before. Sasuke realized his cover had been blown so he raced to find a new position, Sakura following behind him.

She barely spotted Kakashi in time. He was some distance away reading his book and only just managed to stop herself. She sighed softly.

“Behind you, Sakura.” Came the Jonin’s voice and Sakura’s scream echoed through the forest. Kakashi then trapped her into a Genjutsu that made her see Sasuke badly injured. She ended up fainting as a result of it.

This brought Sasuke to a halt and he saw Sakura sprawled out on the ground unconscious. “Gentjutsu, huh? I’m not surprised she got lured in. However… I’m not like them.”

“Why don’t you say that after you get a bell… hm? Sasuke-Kun?” Kakashi taunted from behind the raven-haired Genin, book still in hand. The pair had a stand-off of sorts before Sasuke broke it with a set of thrown weapons. It was a ruse honestly, and Sasuke used a kunai to cut the rope of a trap he’d set up earlier. It threw Kakashi off balance having to dodge twice and Sasuke took the opportunity to come up behind him. Kakashi caught his first kick, then his punch, and third kick. It wasn’t until Sasuke grinned that Kakashi realized he still had a hand free. The kid managed to touch one of the bells as Kakashi moved himself out of reach. 

Meanwhile, Sakura came too and Naruto, ensnared in a second trap of the same kind, spotted the bento boxes on a memorial rock nearby.

The fight between Kakashi and Sasuke continued, with Sasuke using a Katon no Jutsu and Kakashi ending the skirmish with an earth technique. This left Sasuke buried up to his neck in the ground. He walked away to find one of his other two wayward students. Which meant he caught Naruto just as he was about to eat both bento boxes.

“Hey…” And Naruto started at the sound of Kakashi’s voice.

“I was just joking…” He tried to explain lamely.

“Too late!” 

A few minutes later the alarm clock rings. Naruto is promptly tied to a post for cheating and Sasuke and Sakura sit on the ground on either side of him, staring at the two bento boxes with growling stomachs.

“You know, there’s no need for the three of you to go back to the Academy.” Which surprised all three Genin. Naruto and Sakura even started to celebrate once Kakashi’s words sunk in. “Yes. The three of you… must quit being ninja!” And the celebrating stopped just as suddenly as it started.

“Quit being Ninja?! What do you mean by that?” Naruto was kicking his feet wildly. It was like the kid couldn’t talk without moving. “It's true we were able to get the bells but that just means we go back to the academy right? Why are you telling us to quit?”

“That’s because the three of you are runts who don’t have what it takes to be Ninja.” Kakashi knew when he said those words it would infuriate Sasuke. Who, rather predictably, attempted to attack Kakashi. And Kakashi, predictably, disarmed Sasuke and pinned him to the ground. “Why do you think you’re doing this exercise in a team? To put it simply… it’s almost like the three of you have no idea what the answer to this test is.”

“Answer?”

“Yes. The answer that determines passing or failing this test.”

“That’s…” Sakura trailed off before summoning her courage to continue. “What I’ve wanted to ask about for a while now.”

“Man, are you guys brainless or what?” A tone of utter disbelief barely covered the condescension in Kakashi’s voice. What’s the meaning of a three-man squad?” When neither of the Genin seemed to be able to answer on their own Kakashi continued. “That’s… teamwork.” 

“Wait, you mean working with one another?” Sakura still seemed a tad confused. As if Kakashi wasn’t being plain enough already.

“Exactly. But it’s too late now. The three of you might have been able to take the bells if you had worked together… Well, it’s too bad.” 

“Wait?” Sakura finally seemed to be catching onto something. “Why use teamwork if there were only two bells? If all three of us were trying to take the bells wouldn’t it sow discord in the team if one was going to get left behind?”

“Of course! This is a test set up to purposely pit you against one another. It’s only under conditions like this where one’s own interests aren’t the issue. The intention was to select those who could prioritize teamwork…”  
Kakashi’s gray gaze pierced into Sakura’s eyes. “Sakura! You were only concerned with Sasuke and you couldn’t even find him when you needed to. And you didn’t raise a single finger to help Naruto who you could see right in front of you.” Kakashi turned his attention to Naruto. “All you do is run in like it's a solo mission.” And lastly came Sasuke. “I would have thought better of you, Sasuke. You labeled them both a hindrance and acted on your own…” 

“The issue is that missions are carried out in squads! No one is saying that Ninja don’t need unsurpassed individual skills… What is being said is that teamwork is more important than that. Individual actions that disrupt teamwork and throw the team into crisis often lead to death.”

To illustrate his point Kakashi pulled out a kunai and held it to Sasuke’s neck. “Sakura! Kill Naruto, or else Sasuke dies…” He waited a moment or so before speaking again. “Is what will happen. On top of having a hostage taken, you’re faced with two impossible choices and end up being killed. Every mission is a life-risking assignment. Take a look at this stone. There are hundreds of names engraved on it. These are all Ninja who are called heroes in the village. They’re not ordinary heroes. They gave their lives for this village. They died protecting her and her people. My friends’ names are engraved here…” A few moments passed by as Kakashi left the Genin to make what they would of his words. And to spare a few thoughts for his fallen friends and comrades.

“I’ve decided that I’m going to give you one last chance. However, afternoon it’ll be a harsher battle to take the bell. Those who want to take on the challenge can eat lunch. But, Naruto can’t have any. That’s his fault for trying to circumvent the rules. If anyone lets him eat...That person will be disqualified on the spot. I make the rules here, got it?”

Several minutes later Kakashi had all but disappeared, leaving Sasuke and Sakura to eat the bento boxes in front of Naruto. He was loudly professing he could handle not having lunch and accepting his punishment without actual complaint. Still, Sasuke couldn’t help but pause. He had seen how little energy Naruto had, had that morning. And that was all from not having enough fuel to keep going. Normally Naruto was one of the most annoyingly hyperactive boys in their age-group. Even more so than Kiba! “Here, take some.”

“Ah! Sasuke-Kun… Sensei-” Sakura looked around furtively, hoping not to spy Kakashi anywhere near.

“It’s okay. There’s no sign of him now. And Naruto won’t be of much help if he’s still starving for our second chance at this. Sensei said the only way we could get them was for all three of us to work together.” Sasuke held up his bento box a little more. “Eat.” Soon Sakura’s bento was held up beside Sasuke’s.

“He’s right… we won’t be able to get even one of the bells if you’re still hungry.” She reasoned and gave Naruto a small, genuine smile. 

“I-I really appreciate it, both of you… but…” Naruto flexed his hands and forearms. “I can’t eat when I’m tied up like this.” So, begrudgingly, Sasuke and Sakura fed Naruto bites from their bento boxes in between their own. 

The next thing the three of them knew an explosion of smoke appeared in front of them and wind whipped at their hair and faces. “You three!!!” Kakashi appeared and his eyes almost seemed murderous. “You defied the rules so that means you know what’s coming…” A couple of hand seals and thunderous clouds rolled in on what used to be a sunny day. “Do you have anything to say for yourselves?”

“But you see…” Naruto started, even though his teeth were obviously chattering. “B-but, you said, Sensei! These guys…” He seemed to have a hard time coming up with the words he needed to say to get his meaning across.

“We’re a three-man squad, right?” Sasuke stepped up to pick up where Naruto was lacking in words.

“That’s right! The three of us are one, so…” Sakura added fervently.

“That’s right, that’s it, that’s it!” Naruto, having had his words conveyed by his teammates agreed with them.

“The three of you are one, huh?” Kakashi approached, placing his hands on his hips. “You pass! And you’re the only ones who have. Up until now, I’ve only had dunces that just listened to what I said exactly to the letter. A Ninja must see through deception… In the world of Ninja, those who break the rules and codes are branded as garbage… But… Those that abandon their friends and teammates are worse than garbage.” Even under his mask Kakashi the Genin could tell that he was beaming at them.


	4. Chapter 4: Adulting is hard when you're twelve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I had Kakashi go full Mr. Miyagi on these kids. And it has been a malicious sort of fun writing this chapter. Even if it is a tad shorter than the others.

The following day had the team coming to the training grounds at a much more reasonable 7 am. Kakashi still ended up being late somehow. This time he had been helping a little old lady carry her groceries home. Neither of the Genin bought the excuse and Sakura, at least, had the suspicion he wasn’t expecting them to either. She filed that away for future reference.

“So, first things first, follow me.” Kakashi tucked his hands in his pockets and began walking back toward the village. The rest of the team was supposed to follow clearly. After several minutes of walking, Kakashi stopped. In front of a tall apartment building. “Today we’re, and I mean you three, are washing the windows of this place.” 

“Whaaat?!” Naruto’s jaw was nearly to the ground. Sakura and Sasuke were similarly affected by shock. “I thought we were training!”

“You will be training.” Kakashi pulled off one of his gloves and walked toward a collection of cleaning items. He took a wet sponge and began cleaning the window with small counter-clockwise motions. “Counter-clockwise for 15 repetitions of 5.” He then switched the direction of his motions to the opposite. “Then clockwise for another 15 repetitions of 5.” He dropped the sponge back into the bucket he got it out of, dried his hand on his pants, and slipped his glove back on. “You’ll do that until all of the windows are done.”

“Ah, Kakashi-Sensei,” There’s a slight hesitation to Sakura’s voice. Clearly, she’s learned that Kakashi can be a harsh teacher. “How are we supposed to reach all of the windows? This place is easily 5 stories tall.”

“Decent observation, Sakura, you’ll be learning to wall-walk with your chakra. Channel a small amount of chakra to the bottom of your feet and use it to walk up and down the outside of the walls. Hm,” Kakashi seemed to think for a moment. “Maybe it would be best if you practice that before going after the windows. Don’t want to be breaking any after all. Don’t take all day though. The longer you take learning the longer it will take to clean the windows. We won’t start anything else until they’re all done. Oh, and if you don’t finish today you start all over tomorrow.”

“All…” Naruto croaked out after some time.

“...Over?” Sakura herself looked ready to faint again. Even Sasuke didn’t seem to take that ultimatum well.

To make matters worse it took almost no time at all for Sakura to get wall-walking down. So she was put on window duty while the boys couldn’t even make it up to the second-floor windows. So she did her circular cleaning, with some terse corrections from Kakashi down below. How he even knew when she was getting sloppy was beyond her. He had his damn nose in his perverted book the whole time! By the time the sun was setting the boys weren’t any closer to being able to join Sakura with window washing. 

“Maa, that just means the three of you get to start over again tomorrow.” Kakashi beamed behind his mask. Sasuke may or may not have started trying to devise ways to kill Kakashi in his sleep at home. And so the routine continued for nearly a week before all three Genin were able to get a handle on wall-walking and then get every last window spotless in a single day. Once he and Sasuke knew how to walk-walk, Naruto tried to cheat by using his Kage Bushin no Jutsu. Kakashi very quickly put a stop to that. With kunai.

The next day Kakashi had them sanding the floors of a newly built and unfinished apartment complex. By hand. And they had to use the same technique. Counter-clockwise for 15 reps of 5 then clockwise for 15 reps of 5 until all of the floors were sanded down smooth and soft. Then they had to stain the wooden fencing of the apartment complex. “Long strokes, up and down. 15 repetitions.” Kakashi had said pointedly. And by this time they knew what he meant regarding repetitions.

Following that they learned how to manage their money. In their own heads. While on the run from Kakashi’s dog summons. Who seemed to have far too much fun tormenting the Genin than was warranted. And Kakashi just followed behind with his nose in that damnable orange book. After that, it was learning how to stash and protect their meager savings. Naruto swore profusely that it was cheating if Kakashi used his summons to sniff out their hiding spots around or near their homes.

“Naruto, if someone, a Ninja especially, wanted to take your stash they would use any means available to them.” Kakashi pointed out, he was holding Naruto’s wallet out of reach. “Animals and summons included.” 

It was then that the Genin put their heads together. Keep the stash in their home or room and booby trap the shit out of it. Kakashi had to concede that they had the lesson down when Pakkun returned to him one afternoon covered in holographic glitter. At least the kids were catching on finally.

After all of the stupid and inane, the Genin thought they were, training exercises Kakashi had them meet at the training field. And he was only 30 minutes late this time around. “Yo.” He waved when he arrived. “Who is ready for some team exercises?” There was a chorus of groans from his students. “Not that kind. The kind where we work on your teamwork.”

“Wha-really?!” Naruto’s attention was fully on Kakashi for the first time in ages.

“Yes, really. Now come over here and close your eyes.” When the three Genin were standing in front of him he suddenly cuffed them together. Naruto to Sasuke and Sasuke to Sakura. “There we are. Now, for the next three days, you three will be cuffed together with each of you in the middle on a different day. Sasuke, you will have to go with Naruto and Sakura and their flow as the three of you complete some D-rank missions.”

“Sensei I don’t-”

“You need to learn to not only rely on your teammates, Sasuke but learn that you can rely on them. That goes for all of you really.” Kakashi put a hand on his hip and pulled out his ever-present book. “Daily warm-ups, go.” While the little monsters that Kakashi called his adorable little Genin started working out how to fit their daily group and individual warm-ups together with one another Kakashi went through a list of D-rank missions in his head. Particularly ones that required lots of work involving hands. Trash duty might be a good one…

An hour later found the Genin working out how to get gloves on so they could begin picking up the litter along one of the busiest streets in the village. It took a great deal of coordination. And Sasuke had to rely on Naruto and Sakura working together to get his gloves on. Finally, they were able to begin and Naruto and Sakura both tried to go in different directions to start their mission. It was going to be a very long three days.

On that first day, Kakashi refused to uncuff them at the end of the day. So Naruto and Sakura had to go home with Sasuke that night. It was how they learned that Kakashi was Sasuke’s guardian.

“Well at least we know he’s not giving Sasuke any special treatment. Hell, I think he might be harder on Sasuke sometimes.” Sakura mumbled tiredly to no one in particular. Two grumbled agreements from the boys followed her statement before the three Genin drifted off to sleep.

The following day Naruto was in the middle and the team pulled weeds for a mission. That’s when Sakura and Sasuke got to meet Naruto’s guardians, Tsunade and Jiraiya. Both of whom had a nice long laugh at the Genins’ expense.

The next day Sakura was sandwiched between the boys, planting vegetables for a community garden was far from easy like that. Her poor parents were extremely confused.

Then came the “Trust Fall” exercise. Really it just seemed to be an excuse for Kakashi to shorten Team 7’s collective life span. He’d call out a name and say or shout “Trust Fall” and the other two team members had to scramble to catch that teammate. Naruto, early on in the exercise, landed on his head when Sakura missed her catch. This exercise never seemed to end and Kakashi would call out randomly during various missions or other exercises. Like sparring with one another. Or sparring against him.

More exercises and missions came ranging from walking a blindfolded teammate through a maze, feeding a teammate from behind with their arms immobilized, cleaning animal pens, delivering mail, making a human ladder, and even carrying a long log together for miles. 

Enough was enough, however, and Naruto eventually lost it. “I thought you were supposed to be training us! Instead, you have us doing-doing chores!!”

Kakashi looked up from his book. “Eh, I have been training you. And these aren’t chores, they’re missions for Genin that are fresh out of the Academy. Which all three of you are.”

“Painting fences and polishing floors is training and missions? Nuh-uh, no way! I want some real training!” Naruto stamped his foot like the child he was. “You haven’t even taught us a single jut-”

“Paint up!” Kakashi called just before he threw a punch. Naruto, through his conditioning of several weeks, blocked the hit. “Clockwise!” Again his punch was blocked. Naruto’s eyes widened as he realized what was going on. Kakashi had been teaching them practical blocking that wasn’t taught by the Academy. “Down.” This time a kick was blocked. Kakashi stood up straight and folded his arms over his chest. “Naruto, I have been training you. This entire time I have been. Everything all three of you have been doing was training in some way. Washing windows and painting fences? Blocking. Sanding and polishing floors? Building arm strength. Trust falls? Building trust amongst the three of you.”

“O-okay, so you have been training us… but why like this, Sensei?” Sakura was the first to get over her surprise and the curiosity Kakashi had been encouraging of her came out. 

“Because it’s effective.” Kakashi knelt in front of Naruto and placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “You just showed me that all three of you are ready to move on to more serious training.” He stood and looked toward Sasuke and Sakura. “Prepare yourselves. These next two weeks are not going to be easy.”

The first thing Kakashi did was have each of them balance at the prow of a boat and go through their katas and do shadow sparring. The object was not to lose their balance and end in the water as well as not disturb the fish. And Kakashi might also try to tip them off balance. Naruto screamed at him the first time he did that. So he did it more just for the insubordination. For an entire week Team 7 took turns standing in the bow and going through their katas. By the end of the week, they could do so with barely a ripple on the water.

The absolute last task Kakashi had for them was one that sounded incredibly simple but was impossibly difficult. Catching a fly using chopsticks. That in of itself took around a week and a half before all 3 of his Gening mastered their hand-eye coordination for such a feat. He treated them to Ichiraku’s Ramen when they succeeded.

Following that Kakashi began working on a finisher technique for them. He had each of them test the chakra element natural to them. For Naruto it was wind. For Sakura it was water. For Sasuke it was lightning. Which couldn’t have been more perfect to Kakashi’s mind. After getting each of the Genin used to using their element he taught each of them a single ninjutsu. 

Naruto learned the Kamaitachi no Jutsu which essentially created a tornado to be the central focus of the attack. Next came Sakura who learned Mizu no sutairu: Naminote and it was a Jutsu that allowed the user to send out a large wave of water from their hand. And Sasuke learned Raiton: Raikou Boruto no Jutsu and that would allow him to strike Sakura’s water to electrify it. What they ended up with was a large electrified water spout that Naruto could direct.

Finally, finally Kakashi felt his team was ready to move on to the harder missions.


	5. Chapter 5: Oh you got a C-rank? Nah fam

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here is where things start getting interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And long. No, I am not sorry.

“Sasuke here at Point B.”

“Sakura here at Point C.”

“Naruto here. I’m at Point A.”

“You’re slow, Naruto. Okay, Team 7…” All 4 of their voices were slightly distorted by the radios they were using for the mission. “Huh?! The target has moved! Follow it!”

“Naruto here, I have eyes on the target.”

“What’s your distance from the target?” Kakashi was coordinating this particular mission.

“Five meters,” Naruto whispered in reply. “I can go at any time.”

“I’m ready, too!” Sasuke added in a confident tone

“Me, too…” Sakura spoke softly but intensely. The entire team was taking the mission with utmost seriousness.

“Okay…” Kakashi paused, waiting for the right moment. “Do it!” All three Genin lept into action. Within moments the team had the target captured. That target being a brown cat with a bow on its right ear.

“I got him!” Naruto shouted as his arms wrapped around the cat.

“Does he have the ribbon on his right ear? You're certain it's Tora?”

“It’s the target, no mistake.” Came Sasuke’s voice over the radio. Naruto, judging by the yowling in the background, had his hands full.

When they returned to the mission’s desk the entire team felt a bit sorry for the cat. Madam Shijimi, the Fire Daimyo’s wife, was smothering the poor thing.

“Now then…” The Hokage called out for their attention. “The next mission for Team 7 is-”

“Hokage-sama, I would like to request my team’s first C-rank mission.” He was grinning behind his mask as he said those words. Sakura and Naruto were beaming, seriously Naruto could act as a second Sun sometimes, and even Sasuke smiled. All four were entirely confident in their abilities.

“Ah… This is highly unusual, Kakashi.” The Hokage stated after a short pause. He was clearly in surprise, something that was hard to accomplish with Hiruzen at his age. “Are you certain?”

“Yes, Hokage-sama. My team has been training extensively and intensely for several weeks now. They are more than ready.” Kakashi nodded his head. He knew his team. They might as well have been born ready.

“What?! They only graduated from the Academy two months ago! They can’t possibly-”

“Iruka-Sensei, let me remind you that they are not your students anymore. They are mine. And when I say they’re ready I mean it.” Kakashi interrupted Iruka before the other teacher could really get started with his protest.

“Kakashi, you don’t know them like I do!”

“No, Iruka, you don’t know them like I do.”

“Enough, both of you.” Hiruzen cut in before the discussion could escalate into a full-blown argument. “Iruka, they are Kakashi’s students now. If he feels they are ready to go to the next level in missions then I will trust his judgment.” He shifted through some of the paperwork on his desk. “I happen to have a C-rank mission that involves being bodyguards.”

“Really?! Ah-ha! Who is it? Who?” Naruto couldn’t contain his excitement any longer. It was a small miracle he’d made it as long as he had with keeping quiet.

“I’ll introduce you now. Could you please come in?” The Hokage called out to a door behind the team.

When the door slid open it revealed a man nearly the same age as the Hokage. And he was holding an open bottle of sake. “What’s this? It’s just a bunch of damned brats!” He took a long swig from the bottle in his hand. “Particularly you, the short one with the dumb look on your face. Are you really a Ninja?” 

Naruto’s grin immediately changed to a glare of death. He was getting strangely good at it. Still, he was a sight better than he likely would have been over a month and a half ago. At least he wasn’t attacking the old drunkard. “I’m Tazuna, veteran bridge builder. I’ll need you to risk life and limb in bodyguarding me until I return to my land and complete my bridge!”

A few hours later and the team was leaving the front gate of the village. Kakashi assigned Naruto to take point while he stuck close to Tazuna and Sasuke and Sakura brought up the rear. Naruto, being the chakra tank he was, would be best as a first line of defense. Sasuke’s Sharingan and Sakura’s natural observational skills are best from the rear as they can spot things that Naruto would likely miss being on point.

Naruto, predictably, was excited to leave the Village for the first time and he could barely contain it. Which led to Tazuna questioning his safety with the “squirt”. And Naruto managed to keep himself from blowing up on the old guy. Much to the relief of his teammates and Sensei.

Kakashi laughed lightly. “I’m a Jonin and I’ll be watching all three of them. There’s no need to worry.” And with that, the group set off toward their destination. 

For the first leg of the journey, everything was quiet. Peaceful even. Birds were chirping and twittering. There was hardly a cloud up in the bright blue sky. It almost made Kakashi wish he’d had a decent Genin team before. This mission was a cakewalk so far. Though he couldn’t help but feel a nagging sensation at the back of his mind. It was telling him to keep his guard up and be wary.

After years of being Jonin, Kakashi had learned to trust his instincts when they told him something was off. Saved his life more than once. This was why when he saw a lone puddle on the ground he made note of it. There had been no recent rain and the nearby stream was too far to have made that puddle.

He made a slightly louder scuff with his sandals to catch the rest of his teams’ attention. Each of them subtly showed that they had heard and understood their Sensei and were especially wary. Not long after the group had passed the puddle Kakashi’s suspicions were confirmed.

A pair of Ninja, both wearing Kirigakure Hitai-ate, left their cover and attacked. The both of them used a barbed chain attached to gloves on their respective right and left hands to immobilize Kakashi. His three students had already surrounded Tazuna, weapons at the ready in case there were anymore Ninja lurking. Naruto had even pulled out some kunai with explosive tags attached to them. He was also quick to send them at the two Kiri-nin, forcing them to drop their hold on Kakashi and retreat.

In that diversion of seconds, Kakashi used the opportunity for the Kawarimi no Jutsu to avoid the triple blast of explosions and to move between his team, Tazuna, and the enemy Ninja. The pair of them dodge and make an attempt to use the same move on Naruto since he had drawn their ire.

Seeing that Naruto wouldn’t have enough time to completely avoid the attack, Sasuke leaped into the air and used a shuriken and kunai to pin the chain deeply to a tree trunk. Each of the Kiri-nin released their end of the chain from their respective gauntlet and made for Tazuna. The first Sakura nailed in the solar plexus with a powerful right hook. The second Kakashi clothes-lined. Within minutes the two enemy Ninja were tied to a tree for questioning.

“How were you able to detect our movements?” One of the two questioned, clearly not able to understand how they had been caught.

“...You do realize that it hasn’t rained in a few days here, right?” Came the dead-panned reply from Kakashi.

“Knowing that, why’d you let the brats handle the fight?” Tazuna didn’t seem particularly happy about that.

“One, I knew my team could handle them.” Kakashi turned to Tazuna. “Two, I needed to know who their target was.”

“Hm?! What do you mean?”

“I had to know if you were the target or not. We weren’t informed that you were being targeted by Ninja. The mission stated that it was just supposed to be protection from gangs, thieves, and such.” Kakashi had his one visible eye narrowed at Tazuna. “With Shinobi after you, this mission isn’t a C-rank. It’s a B-rank or higher. And those are expensive.” Kakashi sighed and shook his head. “Still, I know my team well and I know we can handle this change.”

His Genin gave him grins of varying determination and malice. “And I doubt they’d let me take us all back to Konohagakure anyhow.” Kakashi couldn’t help but chuckle. They were turning out to be the best kind of little monsters.

With the two Kiri-nin dispatched the group carried on. In the evening they set up camp and determined watches. Kakashi and Naruto would go first, then wake Sakura and Sasuke for the second watch. After Tazuna and the other two had fallen asleep Kakashi gently poked at the campfire with a stick. “Maa, Naruto?” 

“Hm?”

“What do you know about your parents?” It wasn’t something either of the team had discussed with Naruto before. Kakashi wasn’t surprised when it took Naruto off guard.

Naruto was quiet for several moments. “Honestly? I don’t know much about either of them. Whenever I bring it up with Tsunade-baa-chan and Jiraiya-Jiji they both… shut down.” The kid shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t say and he hid it well but Kakashi could tell that it hurt.

“I used to know your mother,” Kakashi said and Naruto looked up sharply at him. “She was from Uzugakure and she had the brightest, reddest hair you’d ever see on a human being. She was boisterous and loud and liked to tease her friends.” Their eyes met and Kakashi grinned behind his mask. “Her name was Uzumaki Kushina. And she had been the Jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi.”

“Ky-Kyuubi?! The Demon Fox that destroyed the village?” Naruto shook his head as if doing that would help him gather his thoughts. “What’s a Jinchuuriki?”

“A Jinchuuriki is a very rare individual who physically houses the chakra and spirit of a tailed-beast. Your mother was the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. And before her, Uzumaki Mito was. Now… you are.”

“Me?! How?”

“All Jinchuuriki have a seal somewhere on their body to keep their respective tailed-beasts contained. For the Kyuubi, the seal is generally on the stomach of the Jinchuuriki.” Kakashi explained patiently. “When you were born something happened to your mother’s seal and the Kyuubi was released. She was dying because of what happened and the Yondaime Hokage took you, a tiny newborn, and sealed the Kyuubi inside of you.”

“...Mizuki-Sensei told me I was the fox…” Naruto looked close to tears. “If I am the Jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi then he was telling the truth.” The poor kid wiped his eyes on his sleeve. “Why me? Why did he pick me? Was it just because I was there?!”

“No, no,” Kakashi moved to kneel in front of Naruto and placed his hands on the boy’s shoulders. “It’s because of who your parents were. Who your mother was. The Uzumaki Clan used to be one of the largest clans in all of Uzugakure before it fell. And your clan, yes your clan, was most known for the sheer amount of chakra they had.” 

The Jonin sighed softly. “The Yondaime… he really didn’t have any choice. He needed to seal the Kyuubi and only descendants of the Uzumaki Clan can handle the amount of power the Kyuubi possesses. I know that if he’d had a choice he would have chosen someone, anyone else. But he didn’t. And he knew that, just like your mother, you’d make an excellent Jinchuuriki. You are not the Kyuubi. You’re essentially his jailer.”

When Naruto started sobbing silently, Kakashi pulled him into a tight hug. Like he did with Sasuke when life became too much for him too. And like he would for Sakura when she felt like she couldn’t keep going. These were his kids now. And, when it came to them, he was going to make sure the world never knew what hit it.

The following morning they packed up camp and continued on their way to the Land of Waves. Naruto, much to the concern of his teammates, was subdued and extremely quiet. When questioned he would only smile sadly and tell them he was thinking about his family.

It wasn’t until they reached the ferry that Naruto started getting back to his usual self. Still, the ferry ride was fairly quiet. A mist had settled on the water and the Genin were on high alert. Kakashi was proud of them. Because he felt it too. Just like with the Kiri-nin from the previous day something wasn’t quite right.

“Tazuna-san, I need to know what we’re up against,” Kakashi murmured just loud enough to be heard over the sound of the water. “I don’t want to cancel the mission but I get the feeling that more than one Kiri-nin is after you.”

“And you’d be right.” Tazuna took a deep and slow breath before letting it out. “A shipping magnate by the name of Gato. Yes, that, Gato.”

“Who?” Of course, the three Genin wouldn’t have heard of the CEO of the Gato Company.

“One of the richest men in the world. He’s a crime lord and shipping is his cover for the rest of his shady business deals. He uses his wealth and violence to ruthlessly take over small nations and enterprises. He set his sights on Wave Country around a year ago.” Tazuna explained and for once the team felt he was being truly honest with them. “Before anyone realized or could stop him he had taken complete control of the island’s maritime transportation and shipping. He has control of everything… If that bridge is completed he’ll lose that control.”

“I see, so you’ve become a target because you’ll be the cause of that control slipping out of his hands.” Sakura surmised and both Naruto and Sasuke turned toward her.

“So those Ninja from before were Gato’s men?” Sasuke frowned at the thought. 

“Why didn’t you tell us this at the beginning of the mission?” Kakashi turned his attention back to Tazuna.

“I couldn’t afford the cost for the actual rank of this mission. No one could, not even one of our feudal lords. And everyone is too afraid to try and pool money together.”

The rest of the boat ride was silent, even up until the group reached the docks. When the boatman started his engine and rode away it was like the striking of a gavel. If they hadn’t been in the mission before they certainly were then. 

“Time to take Tazuna-san home, Team 7,” Kakashi stated calmly, with an almost chipper sound to his voice. “Be on your guard. Those two Ninja before were Chunin. The next one will likely be Jonin.” Nearly an hour later Kakashi turned out to regret being right. After the entire group, with Tazuna getting pulled to the ground by Sakura, had to hit the dirt to dodge a huge sword Kakashi and the rest of the Team found themselves looking at none other than, “Momochi Zabuza, the Demon of the Mist.” 

“Ah, Hatake Kakashi, the Copy Ninja.” The rogue Kiri-nin’s voice was deep and intimidating to hear. “Sorry, but… you’re gonna need to hand over the old man.”

“Get in Manji formation, you guys. Protect Tazuna…” Kakashi had his hand on his Hitai-ate, ready to remove it when he needed to. “I need you to stay out of this fight if you can help it. This man is dangerous. And it's safe to say this mission just hit A-rank level...” As confident as he was in his team they were not at all ready to deal with someone like Zabuza.

The missing Ninja in question chuckled when Kakashi revealed his Sharingan eye, much to Naruto and Sakura’s shock. “I didn’t think I’d get to see that famous eye of yours so soon, Kakashi.” When Naruto and Sakura glanced at Sasuke he was absolutely unperturbed. Meaning he had known about Kakashi’s Sharingan already.

A thick and unnatural mist began rolling in and obscuring everyone’s vision. The three Genin stood at the ready in the formation their Sensei had told them to use as the mist continued to thicken. Soon they could barely even see Kakashi’s form in the mist.

“Eight spots.” Zabuza’s voice seemed to echo all around them. “The larynx, the spine, the lungs, the liver, the jugular and the subclavian veins. The kidneys, the heart. Which of those vulnerable spots should I pick?” As obvious as it was as far as intimidation tactics went it was an effective one.

Silence and then Kakashi performed a few hand seals and the mist was whipped away, making him visible to his team again. That was when the Genin felt an incredibly intense killing intent. One that made them feel like making even a single breath would cost them their lives. The next thing the poor Genin knew was that Zabuza was behind them and in front of Tazuna.

He moved to swing his hulking sword only for them to jump away as Kakashi stabbed a kunai into his abdomen, striking a kidney. However, that would have been too easy for Team 7 and it turned out that Zabuza had used Mizu Bushin no Jutsu before making his attack. The real Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi and sliced the Konoha-nin in half. Only to realize that Kakashi had copied his Jutsu. Then Kakashi was behind him and holding a kunai to his neck.

“I have to admit, you’re pretty good. But you won’t be able to beat me by playing monkey-see-monkey-do.” Zabuza chuckled despite the blade at his throat. Kakashi moved to slash open the artery there just as another Zabuza appeared behind him and the clone in front of him turned to a puddle of water. Zabuza swung his sword and Kakashi dodge by ducking at the last moment. So the blade landed in the ground and wouldn’t be pulled out easily. The missing Ninja switched the hand on the hilt of the sword and used it as leverage for a powerful kick that sent Kakashi flying. 

Kakashi landed in the water and Zabuza dove after him. When Kakashi surfaced the other Ninja struck. “Suirō no Jutsu.” Kakashi didn’t stop himself from falling into the water and it just cost them all greatly. 

With Kakashi captured in Zabuza's Water Prison Technique, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were forced to defend against Zabuza's attacks. He created another clone and sent it after them. Naruto was the first one struck and his Hitai-ate was knocked from his head. “You’re just a bunch of kids. Neither of you is a real Ninja.” Their Sensei’s first instinct is to tell all three of them to run for their lives with Tazuna. But he also knew that without him they’d never last long.

Sasuke was the first one to move, throwing shuriken at the clone then jumping into the air to try a downward kunai stab after the shuriken were deflected. He got caught by the throat and thrown backward several yards. 

Next Naruto charged the clone and was back-handed and slid all the way back to the feet of his teammates. In his hand was his Hitai-ate, the one he’d suffered and worked so hard for. “Hey, Sasuke! Sakura! I have an idea!”

“Teamwork time?”

“Teamwork time,” Naruto wiped the blood coming from the corner of his mouth away. “Let’s get wild…”

“Big words for a kid that’s still playing at being a Ninja.” Zabuza laughed and hit the three Genin with his Killing Intent again, making them freeze in place. Sasuke and Sakura are both hit and sent tumbling to the ground. The missing Ninja had him pinned down with a foot on his chest and was slowly crushing the air from the Genin’s lungs. Naruto summoned dozens of clones of his own and attacked Zabuza, forcing him to move away from Sasuke.

The attack wasn’t enough, however, and Zabuza sends Naruto and his clones flying. Naruto, while in an uncontrollable slide, throws something toward Sasuke. Naruto’s slide is stopped by Sakura, who helped him to his feet again. Sasuke caught the weapon, a Demon Wind shuriken, and grinned as he made himself ready. He sent the specialized shuriken flying and it whizzed past the clone of Zabuza and straight to the man himself. 

“A shuriken won’t be enough.” And with one hand free he catches it. Only for a second shuriken to be headed his way after the second. A shuriken hidden in the shadow of another. This one is dodged only for a Henge to dispel and reveal Sakura, who uses the spin she developed to hurl a large kunai at Zabuza’s back.

Zabuza, out of free limbs and unable to dodge as he was with a kunai aimed at his head, released his prison Jutsu and Kakashi. Sakura managed to leave a small cut just below the bastard’s eye. But the maneuver Naruto came up with left her widely vulnerable. Just as Zabuza was about to throw the shuriken he caught earlier Kakashi blocked it. Killing Intent was roiling off of the Konoha Jonin as Sakura landed safely in the water. Zabuza visibly paled. The two leaped away from one another and Zabuza started a long and complicated series of hand seals.

And Kakashi was doing them at the exact same time. Both released the Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu. The resulting wave and tidal flow of water washed Sakura back to shore and she was quick to rejoin her teammates. Meanwhile, Kakashi seemed to be playing a literal Mirror Mirror game with Zabuza, mimicking every move the missing Kiri-nin made.

In addition to this, he even used a mild Genjutsu to make a blank eye image of Zabuza appear behind himself. “Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!” He used that moment of distraction of Zabuza to predict and complete the Jutsu that Zabuza had been intending to unleash.

Zabuza was blasted into a tree by the Jutsu and then pinned to it by Kakashi using kunai. “How… can you see into the future?”

“Yeah… And you’re going to die.” Kakashi readied another kunai only for his kill to be taken from him by a pair of well-placed senbon. Looking in the direction they had come from Kakashi and the rest of the team could see a short Ninja wearing a mask in the distance. The symbol for Kirigakure was carved into the forehead of the mask, signaling that this individual was a Kiri-hunter Ninja. And Zabuza had been the target. 

“You were right.” The Ninja stated dryly. “He died.” After checking the kill he looked to Kakashi and Team 7. “Forgive me, but I have to dispose of this corpse. It contains many secrets.” The Hunter Ninja picked up Zabuza’s body and disappeared in a whirl of leaves and wind.

Silence reigned for several moments… And then Kakashi collapsed to the ground. At first, everyone was startled and scared. Then Sakura shook herself and checked Kakashi over. “He’ll be fine, it's a really bad case of chakra exhaustion.”

Tazuna and the three Genin make a litter and use it to bring Kakashi to Tazuna’s home. They are greeted by Tazuna’s daughter, Tsunami, and his grandson, Inari. A futon was promptly set up for the unconscious Jonin so that he could rest. When he finally awoke sometime later his Genin had some more questions regarding the Hunter Ninja and their purpose. It was during that explanation that Kakashi realized something very, very bad. If that child had been a true Hunter Ninja he would have disposed of Zabuza there. Even if he needed proof he would have only taken Zabuza’s head.

That kid was no Hunter Ninja and was likely working with Zabuza. This revelation didn’t sit well with Tazuna or the kids. Sakura brought up a very good point then. “Sensei, if he’s still alive and has allies, how are we going to prepare?”

“Maa, it means I have to assign the three of you more training.” Kakashi seemed a bit too happy about that for a man who couldn’t even get on his own two feet by himself. The Genin made varying sounds of shock and dismay before clinging to one another. 

That was when Inari spoke up. “These guys are gonna die. No one can stand up against Gato…” Naruto had a few choice words for the damned brat but before he could knock a knot on the kid’s head he left the room to ‘look out at the sea,’ or whatever.

Once Naruto was able to get away from Sakura he stalked upstairs to give Inari a talking to. That was when he heard the kid crying. “Tou-san…” His little voice sounded so broken and alone. Naruto had the good sense to leave the boy be.

Later that day Kakashi took his little monsters out to the dock near Tazuna’s house, using a set of crutches to help him walk, to start the next leg of their training. “I didn’t realize you’d need it so soon but the next thing the three of you need to learn is water-walking. In essence, it’s like wall-walking but there is an added layer of difficulty.”

“Because of the movement of water? Since it isn’t solid like trees or rocks the chakra needed would fluctuate wouldn’t it?” Sakura was Kakashi’s current favorite. Actually, he didn’t play favorites with either of them but Sakura was still his current favorite.

“Sakura you get the gold stars. All of them.” Their Sensei was beaming behind his mask. She was so intelligent and Kakashi wanted to encourage that. “This water is relatively calm even if it's not perfectly smooth, so this is a perfect place to start.” And if Kakashi failed to mention the current, not that it was terribly strong according to Tazuna and Tsunami, at least they’d get practice swimming in one.

That evening each of the three Genin were exhausted and wince with every move they make. They’d also returned to Tazuna’s home soaked to the bone. And this seemed to upset Inari. 

When the Team and the family sat down for dinner Inari slammed his hands on the table. “Why? Why are all of you working so hard until you get like that?! There’s no way you’d be a match for Gato’s men, even after all of your training!” The little boy was crying by that point. “No matter what you say or how much effort you make weaklings will always lose to the strong!”

“Shut up.” Naruto had gotten his belly full of Inari and Inari’s weeping and cowardice. “I’m not like you.”

“You shut up! Looking at you makes me sick! You don’t know anything about this land and you still go and stick your noses into it. I’m not the one acting immature and without knowing a single thing about pain!”

As soon as Inari said that all of Team 7 stilled, particularly Naruto. “So, you’re just gonna cry all day like the lead in a tragedy? Go on and keep crying forever. That’s all crybaby brats like you are good for anyway.” Naruto’s voice was strangely monotone. He stood and walked away from the table, hands in his pockets. Later that night Inari was on the porch hugging his knees to his chest.

That was when Kakashi approached. “Got a minute?” When Inari didn’t rebuke him Kakashi sat beside the boy. “I know Naruto’s words earlier sounded pretty harsh. They came from a very dark and suffering place inside of him.” 

Kakashi leaned back and braced himself with his hands. “You see, Naruto is an orphan too. He never even got to meet his parents. They both died not long after he was born. All he’s ever had was his godfather and his great-great-aunt to look after him. And he didn’t have them until he was nearly your age. Not only that, up until now he hasn’t had a single friend. Still, he’s never been timid or sulked or cried that I’ve seen. All he wants is for someone to acknowledge him. And he’s eager to please and show what he’s got. He probably got tired of crying…”

The Jonin leaned toward Inari conspiratorially. “Out of all of us, he probably understands your pain the most. Following that it's Sasuke and myself. Sakura probably knows the least about the pain of loss. But, going back to what Naruto said earlier. I’ll bet he’s told himself exactly that over and over again.” With that said, Kakashi stood up and went back inside.

The following morning Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura readied themselves to escort Tazuna to the bridge. When the four of them arrived they found Tazuna’s workers on the ground and badly beaten. That was when a heavy and familiar mist rolled in.


End file.
